Burner liner comprising interlocking liner elements



Jan. 2, 1951 G. F. DOYLE 2,536,919

BURNER LINER COMPRISING INTERLOCKING LINER ELEMENTS Filed Feb. 12, 1945I I I' I I I I I I I IIIIII/IIA I. I 51/272237".- 213 21 @w em zPatented Jan. 2, 1951 UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE i BURNER LINER.COMPRISING INTER- LOCKING LINER ELEMENTS "George FIlDoyle, Chicago; Ill.Application February 12, 1945;.Serial No. 577,445

'8 Claims. 1

This invention relates in general to a refractory lining for stoves,furnaces, fire boxes, and the like, and is more particularly designatedas a vented refractory lining adapted to fit a warm air furnace, a hotwater or a steam boiler, the lining extending from the grate up to thefeed door. t

An important object of the invention is to provide a refractory liningwhich may be easily, quickly and efficiently applied to a furnace orboiler.

A further object of the invention is to provide a refractory liningcomposed of small units which fit easily together and provide an airspace between adjacent units and back of them as they are appliedto afurnace wall.

A further object of the invention is to provide a Vented refractorylining which enables the user to put sufficient fuel into the heatingplant at one firing and without smothering the fire,

thereby materially reducing the firing intervals to one or two times aday.

A further object of the invention is to provide a refractory liningwhich will burn various sizes of fuels, even stokercoals in asatisfactory manner. V

.A further object of the invention is to provide a vented refractorylining which largely eliminates difiiculty from clinkers in using anyofv the finer grades of coal due to burning over. a. large area and notraising the temperature sufficient to fuse the ashes.

Other objects of the invention are to prevent smothering the fire; tohold a steady heat from 12 to 48 hours depending upon weatherconditions; to keep a fire-box filled without smothering the fire; toact as a smoke consumer to reduce the loss of unburned coal in the ashpit; to eliminate mechanical maintenance cost of a stoker; to givenoiseless operation; to effect substantial fuel saving, and also tomaintain uniform room temperature where thermostatically controlleddamper regulation is used.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the specification and willbe apparent from the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. l is a sectional view of a lining in accordance with this inventionas applied to the fire box of an ordinary furnace;

Fig. 2 is a top sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of a number .of the lining elements asshown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the element shown in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective of one of the lining tiles or units.

By providing a lining of this kind, an ordinary heater may be convertedinto a magazine, type of burner with a holder for a large amount of fuelwithout changing the design or construction of the furnace or heater towhich it is applied. Since the lining provides its own vents adjacentthe wall of the. furnace, it'is practically impossible to smother thefire because no gases are entrapped within the furnace, and since thevented lining extends at intervals all .around the grate or furnace, anygrade of solid fuel may be placed in the magazine-which will burn fromthe bottom and sides so. that the inside of the charge is the last to beconsumed.

In the present invention, the lining is produced by alternating thevented units or bricks with plastic refractory material'which hardens inplace so that this lining is easily applied to any fire box or heatingunit. By making the units or bricks of substantially rectangular size orcross section, they are easily and quickly set up and connected toprovide a lining in a heater of any size or shape and need not conformexactly to the curvature or shape of the inside heater wall.

Referring now more'particularly to the drawings, the invention is shownas applied to a fire box Ill having a grate at the bottom with an outerfixed grate ring I I and movable grate bars l2 supported by the ring.The fire box is supported by a base l3 andthe conventional fire doors,ash doors, and other conventional fitting of a furnace or burner areomitted. It is sufficient that air for supporting combustion enters fromthe base and passes up through the grate intoand through the fuel and isdischarged at the top of the fire box.

This invention comprises a vented refractory lining which is built aboutthe inside wall of the firebox and comprises alternate vertical sectionsof refractory tiles [4 and plastic fire brick [5. These verticalsections are built up upon a marginal plastic fire brick ring H5 at thebottom of the sections I4 and I5 and supported upon the grate ring II,thus reducing the diameter of the fire box only the double"'thickness ofthe tile, but materially increasing the depth of'the fire box andproviding a magazine into which the fuel may be deposited.

Each of the refractory tiles has opposite side portions or ends El andi8 jointedby an intermediate portion which extends only about half waythrough the tile leavinga-space20 or a recess formed by the intermediatewall portion 19 and the inner exposed faces of the sides or ends I! and18 at one side of the tile to form a flue. The outer faces of the endsare formed with corrugations 2| by which they will adhere to andinterlock with the plastic fire brick sections l5 which are ofapproximately the same width as the tile sections. The upper end 22 ofeach side I7 and I8 is rounded or curved preferably in the form of asemi-circle, and the lower end of each side has a correspondingly curvedrecess 23 so that the recesses 23 of one block may be set directly overthe rounded upper ends 22 of the block below it.

The upper surface 24 of the connecting portions 59 between the blockends I? and I8 is at an angle and below the upper extremities 22 of thesides of the tile, and the corresponding lower face 25 similarlyinclined parallel with the surface 24 with its lower edge 2% extendingbelow the adjacent edges 27 of the ends of the tile so that the lowersurface of one tile is actually between and below the upper curved ends22 of the tile [below it.

This construction of each individual tile causes a vertical row of thetiles to be interlocked in line with each other permitting a limitedturning or adjusting movement of one tile upon the other, and thespacingof the surfaces 59 and 25 of adjacent tiles is such that aninclined air space 28 is provided between the blocks leading from theinner fiush side upwardly to the inc 2% at the outer side of the tile,when they are applied as shown within a fire box.

With this construction, the vented tile sections are built up about theinner wall of a fire box upon a ring E6 of plastic material and theplastic fire brick i5 fills in the spaces between the tile sections. Thetiles is are of hard refractory material preformed as shown before theyare set into place within a fire box, but they are interlocked togetherin a vertical column and the vertical columns are interlocked with theplastic fire brick columns E5 so that when once set up, and dried orfired in place, the lining is permanent, and provides a number of fines26 about the periphery of a fire box which receive the gases ofcombustion throughout the height and between each pair of preformedtiles.

When any type of solid fuel is filled into the magazine and properlyignited, the combustion of the fuel will take place as represented inFig. l, burning fuel 28 being disposed at the bottom and upwardly at thesides decreasing in thickness at the top with a central core 2% ofunburned or partially burned fuel, depending upon the amount of draftwhich is admitted at the bottom of the grates. The fire burns around theedge of the lining and on the bottom and the fuel drops down,continuously acting as a magazine feed.

This lining is so vented that it is practically impossible to smother afire which therefore makes it possible to charge a burner with largequantities of fuel at each firing. This in turn will reduce the firingintervals depending upon the fuel capacity and efficiency of the heatingplant and upon the weather. To obtain even heat and the maximum resultsfrom any fuel, it is necessary to have automatic damper regulation whichis not shown in the present installation. With a burner of this kind, itis possible to burn various kinds of fuels both coarse and fine, but dueto the dense nature of the finer fuels, it is difficult for air to getthrough from the bottom, and thus the vented lining is valuable inkeeping a fire burning, in preventing the formation of gas. Poor gradesof coal will naturally result in larger ash quantity, but under normalconditions, there will be no difliculty from clinkers in a properlysized heating plant from any of the normally available fuels. Theformation of clinkers is due to burning over a large area and notraising the temperature sufficient to fuse the ashes. In the presentburner, clinkers may not be entirely avoided, but their formation ismaterially reduced. With an installation of this kind, the required fireis so reduced that a mechanical stoker is not necessary, since it isalso fed from a hopper which must be filled periodically.

This type of lining is particularly valuable for trash burners,incinerators, and the like, which are liable to smother, as it issometimes difiicult to keep such material burning. For this type ofinstallation, it may be desirable to place a burner (not shown) belowthe grate as l2 in Fig. 1 to start such a fire and to keep it burning. I

Although this installation has been described in connection with acircular fire pot, the lining may also be applied to furnaces and fireboxes of various sizes and shapes, and various other changes in theconstruction and arrangement of the parts may be adopted withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An interlocking vented refractory tile, having ends connected by anintegral intermediate wall portion extending only partially through thetile leaving an open space at one side thereof, the top and bottom ofeach end having a projection and recess respectively for engaging asimilar recess and projection of adjacent tiles, the intermediateconnecting wall portion projecting downwardly below the lower edges ofthe ends and terminating at the top below the upper edges of the endsrespectively so that adjacent tiles when placed together will beinterlocked laterally by the intermediate wall portion and transverselyby the top projections and bottom recesses of the ends.

2. A vented refractory lining for application to burners of varioussizes and shapes, comprising plastic fire brick columns and refractorytile columns arranged alternately and the tile columns having corrugatedside faces interlocking the columns together, each tile columncomprising a plurality of individual interlocking tiles, each having endportions with upper projections and lower recesses to engage adjacentupper and lower tiles with connecting intermediate wall portions betweenthe ends extending partially through the tile to provide an oppositefree space to form a flue with the adjacent tiles and the inner wall ofa burner to which it is applied, the intermediate wall portion of eachtile having an inclined recess at each upper end and having a cutawayportion at each lower end which 00- operates with adjacent tiles toprovide an air space between them extending from the inside of theburner to the flue space at the opposite side thereof.

3. A vented refractory lining for the inner walls of burners of varioussizes and shapes, comprising plastic fire brick columns and refractorytile columns arranged alternately, the tile columns having a pluralityof interengaging tile units with outer corrugated surfaces interlockingwith the plastic fire brick columns, the tile units having end portionswith projections and recesses to interlock adjacent tiles in eachcolumn, the tile units also having a connecting wall between the endportions with a recess at one side of the tile to form a vertical fiuewith the adjacent inner wall of the burner and the connecting wallhaving opposite inclined surfaces at the top and bottom between the endportions to form with adjacent tiles an upwardly inclined vent extendingfrom the inside of the lining between each pair of tile unitscommunicating with the flue space at the outer side of the tile.

4. The combination with a burner having a fire wall and a grate at thebottom, a plastic ring surrounding the grate at the marginal edge of theburner, a refractory lining built upon the plastic ring and comprisingplastic fire brick columns and refractory tile columns arrangedalternately and continuously around the inside of the burner, the tilecolumns having corrugated side edges interlocking with the plastic firebrick columns, each refractory tile column comprising a plurality oftile units, the tile units having corresponding projections and recessesto interengage with adjacent upper and lower tile units, the tile unitsalso each having an intermediate connecting portion extending partiallythrough each tile with an inclined recess at the upper end and having acutaway portion at each lower end to register with corresponding cutawayand recess portions of the adjacent tiles and to provide a venting flueat the outer side of the tile column in connection with the inner wallof the burner and also to provide connecting portions also providingvent openings inclined upwardly from the inside of the lining to thefiue at the outside of the tiles between each pair of tiles.

5. A heater, comprising a fire box having a grate at the bottom, aplastic supporting ring surrounding the grate, a vented refractorylining comprising alternate columns of plastic fire brick and refractorytile, the tile column having corrugated edges in interlocking engagementwith the plastic fire brick, the tile column comprising a plurality ofsimilar tiles, the tiles having projections and recesses at the upperand lower ends for interlocking them with respect to each other,

each tile having its ends connected by an integral intermediate wallportion which extends only partially through the tile, leaving an outerspace to form a flue with the inner wall of the fire box, and the upperand lower ends of the connecting portion of each tile having an angularrecess p,

and cutaway portion respectively to provide an outwardly and upwardlyinclined vent with the corresponding connecting portions of other tilesthereby forming vents extending through the tile column from the insideof the lining to the outer flue of the tile column.

6. A burner for solid fuels having an inner wall with a ventedrefractory lining, comprising alternate columns of plastic fire brickand preformed tile extending entirely around the interior of the burner,and the sides of the tile column having recesses and projections forinterlocking the columns, the tile column comprising tiles each having asingle outer vertical wall recess to form a single vertical flue foreach tile column adjacent and in conjunction with the inner wall of theburner, and each tile having ends with upper and lower projections forfitting tile together, and an integral connecting wall between the endsextending below the tops and bottoms of the ends and having inclined endrecesses and cutaway portions forming passageways extending betweenadjacent tiles and forming communication between the said flue and theinterior of the lining.

7. A burner for solid fuels comprising a fire box with a grate at thebottom and a vented refractory lining, the lining comprising alternatecolumns of plastic fire brick and preformed tile units arrangedvertically around the interior of the fire box and extending upwardlyfrom the grate, the tile units of a column each having interlocking endwalls integrally connected by a connecting wall at one side of the tileproviding a recess at the back thereof to form a vertical flue inconjunction with the other tiles of its column and the interior of thefire box, the connecting wall projecting downwardly below the loweredges of the ends and terminating at the top below the upper edges ofthe ends to form recesses between adjacent tiles and so that adjacenttiles when placed together in a column will be interlocked laterally andtransversely by the intermediate wall portion and the ends havingpassageways at the tops and bottoms between adjacent tiles from theinterior of the lining to the flue thereof, the upper and lower edges ofthe connecting wall passageways being inclined to form upwardly andoutwardly inclined passages between each pair of tiles.

8. A vented refractory lining for the inner walls of fuel burners,comprising a, plastic fire brick column and preformed refractory tilecolumn having an inner wall with a recess at the outer side to form asingle vertical flue with the inner wall of the burner to which it isapplied, the refractory tile column comprising a plurality ofsubstantially rectangular tile units fitting interlockingly togetherwith an intermediate wall portion extending only partially through eachtile leaving an open space at one side thereof, the top and bottom ofeach end of the intermediate portion of the wall having angular cut awayportions to form a recess inclined upwardly and outwardly from theinside into the vertical flue space at the outside of the column and theside edges of each unit having corrugated surfaces interlocking with theplastic fire brick column, and the columns adapted to alternate aroundthe burner to provide uniformly spaced single fiues extending entirelyaround and applicable to burners of various sizes and shapes.

GEORGE F. DOYLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 86,796 Absterdam Feb. 9, 1869934,887 Cole Sept. 21, 1909 1,436,279 Matson Nov. 21, 1922 1,859,445Howle May 24, 1932 2,329,993 Kriner Sept. 21, 1943 2,365,675 BlumstengelDec. 26, 1944 2,367,094 Blumstengel Jan. 9, 1945 2,370,644 Esson Mar. 6,1945

